With about 65 percent of precincts reporting in the Republican race, Ted Cruz was edging out Donald Trump, 28 percent to 25 percent.

[…]

Marco Rubio was in third place with 21 percent, in line with where his campaign had set expectations after a late surge. But as he looks to consolidate establishment support after the race moves past Iowa, news broke that popular South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, whose state votes later this month, would endorse Rubio.

With about 80 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton was clinging to a one-point lead over Sanders, 50 percent to 49 percent.

In another bit of news, one-time Republican presidential front-runner Ben Carson announced plans to take a break during a critical point in the race. Early poll numbers showed him in fourth place.

The Huffington Post reports that Carson “will leave Iowa on Monday night and head to Florida to get some clean clothes. His aides said he was not ending his faltering presidential bid.”

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Democratic presidential candidate announced plans to suspend his campaign after failing to receive enough viable votes.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Republican presidential contender also announced plans to suspend his campaign.

After all of the political excitement this election season, including the dizzying and ceaseless Donald Trump Show, we will finally find out the winners of the Iowa Caucuses after the polls close at 10 PM CT on Monday.

The Washington Post reports that Democratic presidential front-runner and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Trump, her Republican counterpart, were both cautiously optimistic Monday morning ahead of the first nominating contest of the 2016 election, which is widely viewed as an early indicator of the eventual nominee.

Instead, the paper notes that both were busy urging supporters to “get out and vote.” The push comes as the Hawkeye State faces warnings that a massive winter storm was headed its way, which could impede voter turnout.

“You have to be a little bit nervous, and you know I like to win,” Trump said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” show on Monday morning. “This is actually my first election night. I’ve gone through many election nights, but it was always for somebody else.”

[…]

“We’ve got such a great campaign organization. We’ve got thousands of volunteers. We knocked on 125,000 doors this weekend. There’s just so much excitement,” Clinton said on NBC’s “Today” show Monday morning. “We hope that even though it’s a tight race, a lot of the people who are committed to caucusing for me will be there and standing up for me. And I will do the same for them in the campaign and in the presidency.”

Republican officials predicted record turnout on their side regardless of the weather, fueled in part by Trump’s appeal to voters who have not traditionally caucused. Jeff Kaufmann, who chairs the Iowa Republican Party, said his office has been receiving five to six times as many calls compared to past years.

Iowa is where Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign unraveled to a third-place finish. This time, she faces Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

In the large Republican field, billionaire Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas have battled for weeks for first place in Iowa polls, with Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida showing signs of a late surge.

Crowds swarmed candidates scurrying throughout Iowa on Sunday, volunteers and campaign organizers knocked on doors and dialed their way through voter contact lists, and a barrage of radio and TV ads — many of them scorchingly negative — provided a harsh soundtrack to an otherwise sunny and unseasonably mild day.

Clinton made her final full day of Iowa campaigning a family affair, stumping with her husband, former President Clinton, and their daughter, Chelsea. “I really love the fact that she brought my granddaughter with her to Des Moines,” Hillary Clinton told a crowd in Council Bluffs. “I get to have a little time with Charlotte.”

The results will help determine the order of the race, notes the Times, especially in the crowded GOP field. The next contest is Feb. 9 in New Hampshire, followed by races in South Carolina and Nevada later this month.